MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

5/23 Good effort ends in loss

David DeJesus never had a chance to call off Darwin Barney in the fourth inning Wednesday night. The Astros had runners at first and third with two outs when J.D. Martinez lofted a ball to right. Barney and DeJesus crashed into each other near the foul line trying to get to the ball, and tumbled. Martinez kept running and was credited with a triple, and both runners scored. DeJesus had the ball briefly in his glove but it was knocked loose.

“It was a great effort,” bench coach Jamie Quirk said of DeJesus and Barney. “If they make the play, it’s an outstanding play. It’s perfect placement on [the Astros] part. He didn’t hit it good, he hit it in the right spot, they both gave everything they have.”

Said Martinez: “I saw the right fielder running and I was like, ‘It’s going to have a chance. He’s going to have to make a nice play on it.’ I just continued to run right out of the box and was just fortunate it fell.”

DeJesus simply didn’t have time to tell Barney he had it.

“It was one of those plays that was too much in the middle of us,” Barney said. “It was placed at a point where he didn’t have a chance to call it. It’s unfortunate. My job is to go until I hear somebody call me off and that ball was put into a spot where he didn’t know he’d have a chance until he got there. He probably didn’t know he’d be able to get there.”

Barney had a bloody elbow and hip after the fall because of the rocky surface on the warning track.

“I thought he caught it,” Barney said. “I went and when I was on the ground, I thought he had it in his glove and there it was. We both did our job and it just happened to turn out that way.”

7 Comments

How does an outfielder coming IN on a ball not have time to call off the infielder going OUT on the ball? DeJesus needed to pull the trigger on calling for it and risk not catching it OR backing off and playing it on a bounce, keeping the hitter off third. DeJesus’ uncertainty regarding his own ability is what’s in question here and caused the collision. Barney had to go hard until called off, which never happened. This is just one of the many issues that can be avoided with more talented, intuitive players instead of stop-gap, middle of the road, won’t get us anywhere players, VERY AVAILABLE players.

Exactly!!! Barney would have been OKAY if DeJesus called it. He saw Barney was picking up speed and was about to catch it! And now look….Barney got scrapped and cut AND the Astros got 2 runs! I’m Just Happy Barney didn’t get seriously hurt!

When Forces Collide something has to give? WORSE Record in Baseball and a pretty good “L” steeeeeek Not like the 0-14. But the Team is Better then this and
should get some help THEO where R U ?????????????????????

I for one realize the long haul we AND Theo are in for and do not expect him to instantly turn things around. I am confident there are things being done to right the ship IN YEARS TO COME. What I am not confident of is the new regime’s full disclosure to spill their guts, fess up and admit to the need of a COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the roster and I say this because of the signings of Stewart and DeJesus….really guys? Does Hoystein not know we fans have been there-done that for too many of the Hendry years? DeJesus and Stewart are not that much better than AA rookies at this point. And the retention and determination to keep one of Hendry’s biggest gaffs in the line up in left field all the while espousing “a new Cubs way” is laughable. Cut bait and move on, it’s just money….the Ricketts’. Resigning Koyie Hill was the last straw and after all the grief I gave Hendry for continually re-signing Hill I would be hipocrital if I did not give the same grief to Hoystein. C’mon!
We just got rid of Hill and now we “have” to stomach him all over again? Couldn’t Hoystein at the least bring in another HASBEEN?

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.